A Pop-Culture Podcast

Weekend Watch – 3/24/17

Welcome to the Weekend Watch. Where we try to point you towards the best ways to spend your viewing time (or, at least, steer you clear of the garbage).

Movies

Power Rangers

Loren: I mean it’s no Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, but what is? This looks fine, not amazing or anything but it’s a Power Rangers movie. I’m not expecting Shakespeare. I’ll check it out eventually but I don’t think I’ll be rushing out to the theater.

RDT: Ummm…I kinda wanna see this.

Rick: Apparently they’re planning on a six movie story arc for this series. Seems a little ambitious, but there have been no less than 21 different Power Rangers-related series/movies, and that doesn’t count the Super Sentai series the whole thing is based on. All that makes six movies seem positively modest in comparison. Oh, and yes, I’ll check this out. Looks like fun.

Jen: Sure, fine, why not? This doesn’t look bad, I likely won’t see it, but not looking bad is actually high praise since I was not expecting it to look this good.

Life

Loren: That’s literally the first time I’ve heard of this movie and I think I want to see it. It might just be a good trailer for a bad movie though. Time will tell.

RDT: This was briefly rumored to be a Venom prequel. When it was, I was somewhat intrigued. Now that it’s been confirmed that it’s not, I’m less intrigued, but still a little interested. I like everyone involved, but I think I’d rather see this from the comfort of my couch.

Rick: It must be hard being a sci-fi/horror screenwriter. Being able to make that “haunted house in space” trope work and be different enough from Ridley Scott’s Alien poses a big challenge. I want this to be good, but I can’t shake the feeling that we got about 99% of the story from the trailer. But who knows. Maybe (hopefully) there’s more to it than the standard fare.

Jen: Finally, I keep seeing the billboards for this all over LA and yet knew nothing about it. It feels like many other sci-fi/horror hybrid films, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. At bare minimum, it’s about time someone used “Goodnight Moon” for it’s obviously horrific subtext.

CHiPs

Loren: Woof. Analingus jokes, dude. Analingus jokes.

RDT: This one hurts. I like Dax Shepard a lot. But this just looks terrible.

Rick: Nope. Not even a little bit.

Jen: This one makes me sad. I had reasonably high hopes for this before seeing the trailer. Not even Kristen Bell’s wet T-shirt will get me to this one.

Wilson [Limited]

Loren: I really wanted this to be funny. I did not get what I wanted.

RDT: I like the cast enough to probably check it out streaming.

Rick: I like all of these people, but this feels like a “well, it’s Sunday night and it’s only $3.99 via on-demand, so why not?” kind of movie.

Jen: No thank you. I’m sure the reviews for this will laud its uncomfortable humor and heartfelt, if slightly cynical, message. And yet? No, thank you.

Prevenge (Limited)

Loren: Hey! An original concept! I await Rick’s review and will likely only see this at some sort of movie night with friends. But at least it looks interesting.

RDT: I’ll leave this to Rick.

Rick: This has been on my radar since it debuted at Cannes last year. Excited? Yes. Yes, I am.

Jen: I, too, await Rick’s review. This feels up his alley. I will say that when I was pregnant I did want to kill many people most of the time, so I am feeling this one.

The Levelling [Limited]

Loren: Well, it doesn’t look like my kind of movie, but it looks pretty excellent. I kept thinking, why does that girl look so familiar? Quick to IMDb! Ah yes, she was Meera Reed in Game of Thrones. It’s always nice to see actors not be typecast. She looks excellent in this film.

RDT: That’s a pretty awful title. My feelings otherwise can be summed up as “What Jen and Loren said, but not what Rick said.”

Rick: I’m glad this isn’t some kind of murder-mystery; just a raw-looking family drama. I’m in.

Jen: Are dead brothers the new dead kids? This looks like a well shot, harrowing film about loss and grief. I most likely won’t see it, but it certainly looks well crafted.

Slamma Jamma [Limited]

Loren: 1st question: Is that a Marv Albert soundalike in the beginning of that trailer? Second question: Is this a basketball player’s student film?

RDT: The last good basketball movie I saw was Teen Wolf. (I’ve never seen Hoosiers. I know….) I don’t expect this to break that streak.

Jen: This does not look good. Hmmm, I left and then came back to this to add something, but I have nothing to add.

Bokeh [Limited]

Loren: I’m glad this also hits video and on demand the same day. If I’m going to watch this (and I actually might) I’d rather see it from the comfort of my couch.

RDT: I stopped watching the trailer around a minute in. I don’t want to know more. I just want to watch it.

Rick: Yes, please.

Jen: I’m curious enough to give this a watch. Similar to Loren, it’ll more than likely be from my couch.

All Nighter [Limited]

Loren: Hopefully this will be a super fun Saturday afternoon movie. And that cast doesn’t hurt either. I like Emile Hirsch in less serious roles like this or The Girl Next Door, and you can’t go wrong with J.K. Simmons, Kristen Schaal, or Taran Killam either.

RDT: You know, I didn’t think I was going to be in for this. But I kind of enjoyed that trailer. I’ll keep an eye out for it streaming.

Rick: I think my tastes are shifting. Five years ago I would have been into this. Now, not so much. Crap, am I getting old or just more discerning?

Jen: The Hangover with J.K. Simmons? Maybe? If the sexes were reversed and J.K. Simmons and Kristen Schaal were looking for his missing son, I think this would be off-the-charts enjoyable. I’m just over the boys-being-boys and having a wild night out. And I don’t love the female-centric version of it that much either, maybe mixed genders is the way to go?

Dig Two Graves [Limited]

Loren: This could be a completely eerie flick that really pulls you in. But we’ll never know from that trailer. It’s so clearly trying too hard to be a cool trailer that it fails in almost every way. Bummer.

RDT: I have no idea what’s going on, and I’m not sure I care to find out.

Rick: I get the feeling that this one is going to be a little on the slow side. Not bad necessarily, but slow. I’ll keep it on my radar, though.

Jen: So dead brothers ARE the new dead kids. At least it’s something new. There sure seems to be a lot happening in this trailer. Not sure I’m into any of it, but definitely a lot happening.

American Anarchist [Limited]

Loren: I was all prepared to just post the youtube link to The Sex Pistols: Anarchy In The UK after reading the title, but the subject matter and the way they got William Powell to open up is fascinating. This is promptly being added to The Doc Doc™.

RDT: I’ll add it to my own Doc Doc™ (which doesn’t really exist).

Rick: Yep. Absolutely.

Jen: Oh yeah, I’m in for this one. Docs have been my bread and butter lately and this one looks pretty interesting.

Streaming/TV

Dave Chappelle (Netflix)

Loren: Already added to the queue.

RDT: Dave Chappelle, we need you now more than ever.

Rick: Hey! A stand-up special I will actually watch!

Jen: Yep, Dave Chappelle fascinates me, I’m in.

Grace and Frankie: Season 3 (Netflix)

Loren: As always, I didn’t watch the first two seasons, I don’t see myself watching this one. Though I hear it’s pretty good.

RDT: I’ve heard good things, but just have too much tv already on my list (including the first 2 seasons of this).

Rick: I’ve had this show in my Netflix queue since it debuted. I have not watched a single episode.

Jen: I watched both the previous seasons, it’s a good enough laundry show and heaven knows I’ve always got more laundry so I’ll check out Season 3.

The Most Hated Woman in America (Netflix)

Loren: Started off looking like a bad made for tv movie but ended strong. I’m a hard maybe on this one.

RDT: Agree with Loren. By the end of the trailer, I was in for it. But, like Rick and Jen said, I would prefer a documentary.

Rick: Hell of a cast in this one. It’ll make the queue, but I’ll probably wind up watching Godless in America instead. I feel like a documentary might be more compelling.

Jen: I second Rick, a doc on this subject might be of more interest to me than a docudrama, even if the casting of Melissa Leo is 100% perfect.

Ingobernable – Season 1 (Netflix)

Loren: I think it’s really cool that Netflix is picking up tv shows from around the world that have such a Hollywood feel to them. Brazil’s 3% comes to mind. I may not watch this but I appreciate them putting it out there for the rest of the world to see. I would watch it in a heartbeat if it was about Los Ingobernables De Japon though.

RDT: Most weeks there is at least one trailer where I say I’ll wait for the American remake. This week, this is that trailer.

Rick: I second Loren’s statements, including the one about Los Ignobernables De Japon, whose existence I did not know about until today.

Jen: Please don’t judge me but for the first :30 of this trailer I thought, is this based on a true story? (It is not.)